FUTURE OF PAPERS IN ENGLISH

The future of Indian newspapers and periodicals published in English presents an important problem. With the formation of linguistic States and the conduct of their administration in the regional languages, the influence of the language papers is bound to grow. The speeches in the State legislatures will be mostly in the local languages, and they will be reported with accuracy in the language papers while the papers in English will carry only summarised translations. Even in literary journalism, the leadership will rest with the periodicals published in the Indian languages. I do not, therefore, look forward to any further growth in the number or influence of the papers in English. But yet they have a vital role to play in inter-State and inter-National spheres. Ever after the 15-year limit set by the Constitution, English will continue to be employed in a large measure in those spheres. It will be taught compulsorily, as a language, in the higher forms of the High Schools and in Colleges. The Central Parliament will be bilingual–employing Hindi and English in nearly equal proportions. So too the Central Government and judiciary. It is my belief that in every leading city of India there will be one or two first-rate dailies shaping public opinion in India and abroad, and setting up standards for the language papers to follow. Independent India must also find place for at least half-a-dozen monthlies and Quarterlies with an all-India status, interpreting the regional cultures to other regions and other countries. In this particular field, they will serve as ambassadors of culture.

STANDARDS OF RECTITUDE

The pioneers of Indian journalism copied the example of their great contemporaries in England. Indeed, there could be no worthier models to follow. For centuries the leading organs of public opinion in England battled for the right. They functioned as the tribunes of the people, and preserved the hard-won liberties. The work of the Press was thus complementary to that of the political leaders who stood up for liberty of thought and expression. We have a similar story in India. Our fight for freedom was waged on many fronts; but the platform and the Press were the most important of them. India too has had her heroes in the field of journalism–her Malabaris and Ramananda Chatterjees, her Chintamanis and Rangaswami Iyengars. They were to journalism, what Gokhale and Gandhi were to national politics.

The men at the helm of a newspaper must be alert. They must be men of insight and vision who can grasp the inwardness of a situation, feel the pulse of the public, and body forth the yet unspoken thoughts of the masses of men. This is an instinct which is akin to genius, and every great Editor is something of a prophet too. And if he is utterly sincere and unselfish, he rarely goes wrong. He is able to function simultaneously as the reflector and guide of public opinion.

Every newspaper voluntarily imposes on itself certain restraints, so as not to transgress against God, or the State, or the reputation of individual wielders of power. Criticism, even strong criticism, is an inherent right, but the exercise of it is conditioned by the equal rights of others. Criticism of measures, rather than of men, must be the main objective, though it is sometimes difficult to draw the line between men and the measures they sponsor when in office. But it is a salutary rule to avoid the imputation of evil motives, unless the evidence is overwhelming.

THE PRESS AND THE STATE

A wise Government, wedded to the democratic tradition, will not seek to fetter the Press. Any restraints that it may be called upon to impose on the Press during a period of war or other great crisis, are of a temporary nature. But even in normal times, the State, in the interests of public order, has to enact laws applicable to the Press. Incitement to violence the promotion of hatred between different sections of the public, and indulgence in obscenity, are some of the major evils a State has to guard against. In the case of the professed guardian of the public welfare like a democratic Press, a Government should exercise the greatest caution when bringing in legislation seeking to control the newspapers. It is not enough that popularly elected legislatures scrutinise such a Bill before it becomes law. The gentlemen of the Press must themselves be consulted, and charged with the duty of maintaining standards of conduct within their profession. Violent and unbridled criticism is certainly an evil, but, in the effort to prevent it, even the right type of criticism is apt to be stifled. It is necessary to preserve freedom of expression, without giving rein to license. This becomes possible through an understanding between the representatives of the Press and the State.

MONEY POWER

But the freedom of the Press has implications other than the absence of restraints imposed by the State through legislation or executive orders. Where the Press is fast ceasing to be a vocation, and taking on the character of an industry, the influence of the money power may become a menace to the freedom of the Press. The fabulously rich industrialist is not content to ply his trade and enjoy the comfort that the possession of wealth brings with it. He must acquire political power through getting his men elected to the legislatures, and, even more, through control over the Press. One way of controlling the Press is by owning a newspaper or chains of newspapers, and paying a competent staff to function as mouthpieces of his views on all matters of public interest. Another is to win over the Press through his power of patronage in the shape of advertisements on a huge scale. The money power works in insidious ways, and saps the vitality of the Press. Friends of democracy and champions of the people’s right to a free Press, must devise means to protect the Press from the encroachments of the monied interests, quite as much as from encroachments by the State.

MASS-OPINION

Yet another danger to the Press arises from the impact of mass opinion. In their anxiety to give to the public what the public is supposed to want, the leaders in the world of Journalism unconsciously betray the true interests of that public. If the papers feed the public on sensation, the public acquires a taste for sensational news and for stories of violent crime. The taste grows on what is served. It is an unhealthy sign when the Press of a country panders to an ignorant public, and sinks to the level of sensation-mongers. The truth is that large elements in a nation’s life are fundamentally sound. Their instincts are healthy. The Press is not called upon to stray from the straight path, and corrupt the public taste. All writing meant for the public must he bright, lively, and interesting. But there is no need, acting on wrong assumptions of popular requirements, to vulgarise journalism.

LAY-OUT

The presentation of news in proper form is a great aid to the busy reader. But sometimes the lay-out and headlines are given too much prominence. In the search for smart and sensational headlines, a wrong twist is given to the news. For instance, some newspapers have developed the habit of giving what are called ‘streamer’ headlines. Anyone can see that events of outstanding significance like the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi or the inauguration of the Indian Republic do not happen every day. By racking your brains for the wording of a streamer headline from day to day, you are obliged to give undue importance to ordinary occurrences, just because there must be some kind of a thundering headline. Even in the disposition of the news over the columns on a single page, some papers present the appearance of a zig-zag puzzle. Such featuring is a hindrance rather than a help to the reader. It confuses him and even misleads him with regard to the significance of the news items.

CROSS-WORD PUZZLES

An enterprising circulation manager is not Content with enlisting subscribers and selling copies through agencies. To him, that is just ‘normal’ business. He must be on the look-out for abnormal ways of increasing his sales. Some papers run competitions of cross-word puzzles. There may be many ways of solving the puzzle, and one solution is as good as another; but the money prizes, running into four or five figures, can be won only by those fortunate individuals whose solutions tally exactly with the particular solution arrived at by the office of the paper, or come nearest to it. Here is something of a gamble, and every aspirant sends in a number of solutions, hoping that at least one of them might approximate to the all-correct one. And for this purpose, he has to purchase a number of copies of the paper, which obviously he does not read. All these methods are really extraneous to the main purpose of journalism–the dissemination of news and the shaping of opinion. There is a growing volume of discontent against such methods, and some Governments have sought to prohibit them.

The income from the circulation of copies is never sufficient to maintain a paper. In fact, it rarely covers more than thirty to forty per cent of the cost of production. The rest of the cost, and the profits, must come from a steady flow of revenue from advertisements. The tendency for the newspapers is to placate the business interests to which they look for support. It would not be correct to say that they are the ‘slaves’ of the leading advertisers, but they must manage somehow to keep on friendly terms with them.

The daily newspapers come in for the lion’s share of patronage, while important periodicals devoted to culture, and struggling against odds, receive scant attention. The big advertisers have sometimes been told that the number of readers of these high-class journals is far in excess of the actual circulation figures, and that the type of reader to whom they cater has a superior purchasing power. But these arguments carry no conviction. The only instances in which a departure is made are those of certain weeklies or monthlies published in the Indian languages. In spite of their limited circulation, the advertisers have to reckon with them, if they wish to cover a particular corner of the country.

THE WORKING JOURNALIST

The tendency in recent years has been to exaggerate the value of the technical and business staff, and underrate the services of the real makers of a newspaper or journal. I refer to the Editor-in-chief the heads of the various sections of the editorial department, and the host of assistant-editors; and sub-editors and correspondents, without whose active co-operation no journal of high quality can be produced. The framework of technicians and business managers is indeed necessary for the successful functioning of a newspaper. But ultimately it is the quality of the writing that tells. The editorial staff write out valuable stuff dealing with the main problems of the day, in addition to putting into shape the huge mass of manuscripts passing through their hands. It is they, again, who keep in touch with the progress of knowledge in various fields, and send out requests for special articles to persons who have mastered their subjects and can write with clarity. The editorial staff which thus wins special distinction for a paper is not usually rewarded in an adequate measure. Comparing their emoluments with these enjoyed by men of similar ability and equipment in the permanent services of a State or in the realms of law, industry and finance, one notes with regret the shabby treatment accorded to these talented persons, who not only reflect public opinion, but shape and guide it. The journalists of modern India have learnt to look upon their profession as something of a mission. Their zeal is so great that they make light of hardships. To them, journalism is not just a trade or an occupation. And yet, it is hardly fair to discount their services and take advantage of their idealism. This is an aspect of journalism, on its business side, which has not received the attention it deserves. The working journalists, like the lecturers in our colleges and Universities, are among the lowest paid intellectuals in any land. In different ways, these are the educators of the nation, and it is only the consciousness of service rendered with devotion which sustains them in difficult moments.

CULTURAL PERIODICALS

Politics and economics play a large part in a nation’s life under modern conditions. But they do not exhaust a nation’s wide range of interests. Art and literature, sport and pastime, science and industry, philosophy and religion, appeal in varying degrees to large sections of the public. The leading newspapers always recognise this position, and devote space to items of interest bearing on these topics. But it is to the weeklies and the monthlies that the public must turn for fuller treatment of these subjects. These periodicals are produced at greater leisure; the writers have more time to collect their material and present it in an attractive manner. They are like a half-way house between the daily papers produced at top-speed, and the volumes of learned treatises which take years to write. The periodicals cater to a select, but cultivated group of readers. They thus influence the opinions of those who in their turn influence the general public. It is to the growth of the periodicals that we must look for the evolution of an independent, cultured, and educative type of journalism. Appraisal of new movements in painting and sculpture, criticism of the stage and screen, reviews of poetry and fiction, disquisitions on contemporary science and current trends in politics and philosophy, will appeal to a cultured audience. Periodicals can be so edited as to serve as extension schools.

A WORD ABOUT ‘TRIVENI’

‘Triveni’ was born on the 25th of December 1927. Twenty five years is a long period, and Indian journals which have completed it are very few indeed. In the case of ‘Triveni’ one could never foretell how long it would last; so, when it survived the first year, friends heaved a sigh of relief and welcomed the event as something of a phenomenon. The journal grew in years and in beauty, while there was a progressive decline in my ability to finance it. I ran through some borrowed capital, and then sold bits of ancestral property. Finally, I sought the co-operation of friends like Sri K. Chandrasekharan and the late Justice V. Govindarajachari to raise life-subscriptions and donations at frequent intervals to cover the mounting annual deficits. Then came the troublesome days of the partial evacuation of Madras for fear of bombing during the second world war. ‘Triveni’ then migrated to Bangalore and found a home for seven years, under the guardianship of Sri Masti Venkatesa Iyengar and the new Associate Editor, Sri K. Sampathgiri Rao. Today ‘Triveni’ is being published as a Quarterly from Masulipatam, having been by turns a two-monthly, a monthly, a quarterly, and again a monthly.

In recent years, several journals of this type have disappeared for lack of financial support. This will affect adversely the cultural life of the country, and a national Government interested in culture must come to the rescue of such journals. But if high standards are to be maintained, the subventions or grants should be “without any strings,” and similar to the grants to Universities and societies for scientific research. A periodical might not make a profit nor even pay its way, from its subscription and advertisement revenue. And yet it might uphold values which are of the utmost significance to the future of the nation and of humanity. The Commission can suggest ways and means to strengthen this section of the Indian Press.